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Conditions for Jews in England got steadily worse in the 12th and 13th centuries. Anti-Semitic attacks increased in frequency and violence for several reasons. The Crusades were a time of rising antagonism against all faiths that were not Catholic and attacks on Jews grew, stirred up by some priests who blamed Jews for the death of Jesus. When times were hard, Jews - the only religious minority - were scapegoated and blamed. Many ordinary people who resented the special protection Jews had received and connected them with their hated rulers, were ready to turn on them. Meanwhile the monarchy, borrowing from Italian bankers, depended less and less on money from rich Jews and so offered them less protection, eventually turning on them.

In 1189 and 1190 there had been violent massacres of Jews in London and York. In 1255 Jews in Lincoln were accused of ritually torturing and murdering a local boy. King Henry II arrested 93 local Jews and 18 were hanged. This Blood Libel - following a similar myth in Norwich the previous century - spread across Europe. Many restrictions were placed on Jews in the following years and life became increasingly dangerous.

King Henry III imposed heavy taxes on Jews in 1250, forcing them to claim back money people owed them, which made them even more unpopular. As a result, anti-Jewish riots erupted and hundreds of Jews were murdered - and in some cases the archa (local record of who owed money to Jews) was destroyed. Following that, in 1275 King Edward I imposed the Statute of Jewry which ruled that Jews were no longer allowed to collect interest and most people owing them money would not have to pay. This made him popular with the many people who owed money. This was a disaster and forced most Jews into extreme poverty. They were forced to trim edges off coins, melt them down and sell the silver. This was highly illegal. If caught - and many were - they were executed.

Under the Statute Jews also had to wear yellow badges and were allowed to live in only a few towns. King Edward I wanted to force them to convert to Christianity. While some agreed, many refused. In 1290 Edward expelled all the remaining 3000 Jews from England and they were forced to walk to the south coast and cross by sea to northern Europe as refugees. Many died on the journey - in one case, a ship’s captain left his passengers on a sandbank to drown when the tide rose.

Some Jews remained as Christian converts (or hid their true identity) but it took nearly 400 years for a Jewish community to return to England.